For almost a week now, I've been using Slackware 9.1 (RC-1 released today), and I am having a blast. Slackware doesn't have more than 6-8% of the Linux market these days, but it used to be one of the most-used distros back in the day. Today, many think of Slackware as a true classic, a thought that is often accompanied by a feeling that Slackware is not a user-friendly or an uber-modern Linux distribution. There is some truth in that statement, but there is always the big "But". Read on for our very positive experience with Slackware 9.1-pre. Update: In less than 24 hours since the RC-1, Slackware 9.1 RC-2 is out.

Chris Cheney - I hadn't considered that. A libary based thing is probably the next best thing. The reason I don't like userspace things is due to the tendancy for xyz or abc lib to things slightly differently, and this screw everything else up.

On the VIA chip level - the board I have/had with the VIA chip is a bit older than yours - KT133 of some vintage.
lspci reports a VT82C686 AC97, on a VT8363/8365 bridge.

I'll have do a bit more looking into this dmix thing. I know there are several other people with single chan cards who would appreciate this.